#lostastic

Artist development.

 One of my new and growing passions is artists management /development and it’s different techniques as I work closely with an aspiring Hip Hop artist from Avon Park, FL that goes by the name of Lostastic. I believe this guy will be huge in the near future, so I take the initiative to research ways to help make it happen. As I was conducting research on techniques to artist development, I crossed paths with and article, “Zaruk finds a winning way of developing musical talent” by Stuart Derdeyn.

 I found interesting how Kevin Zaruk, President of Chief Music Management, developed a country act. A duo consisting of Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley named Florida Georgia Line. The outcome of his effort and technique has been huge for Florida Georgia Line. The duo went from performing in front of 25 people to selling out venues with a capacity of 400 and having their song “Cruise” on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for 17 weeks in a row. Zaruk used techniques previously used on Rock bands such as Theory of a Deadman and Default. He and the team had the duo go through his “Boot Camp” where they practiced playing and writing from Thursday to Saturday for 12 months and tested the waters with on iTunes to get a feel on progress and audience. He made sure to develop healthy relationships with the artists as Zaruk mentions in an interview for AXS Entertainment, “I have to be able to get along with my artists”.   

 What I picked up from this article is that the benefits of set scheduled dedicated solely to development are of great importance. That it is ok to think outside the box and apply concepts and strategies from one genre to another. Build healthy relationships and strong work ethic. If this way of “Boot Camp” worked in Country and Rock, it wouldn’t hurt trying it on Hip-Hop and other genres.

 Music Marketing and Promotions. 

 When it comes to marketing and promotions there’s always new ways to approach the subject.  In the Hip-Hop genre we can take a look at Benjy Grinberg who is the mind behind Rostrum Records and the success of Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller. After reading a article on Billboard.com by Steven Horowitz, I can say Grinberg is a true believer in engaging with potential fans online, flooding online media with free music and performing on tour frequently which gives off this rock star appeal. I will definitely look more in to freebies, to attract attention. Venue performances, which help keep track of artist relevance and team progress and of course, boost the online promotions.

 In addition to these great strategies we cannot forget about the importance of having a “Street Team”. A street team is not only in the streets but also in online chat rooms and branded vehicles putting the artist name to the masses. According the article, “The Evolution Of Street Teams” by Rashaun Hall, “Street teams have become the quickest way to get a brand name out to the people.” I believe the combination of the strategies mentioned above is a great start to building my own marketing recipe. 

 Music Production and sampling.

 As a music producer who loves Hip-Hop, I must admit I love me a good sampled beat. It’s like unifying the old with the new. This is referred to as Sampling. DJ Kool Herc introduced sampling back in the early 70’s. What started as manually switching from one record to the next to extend percussion breaks, went to looping drum breaks on cassette and now to multiple options available such as digital samplers and drum machines. Speaking of drum machines, have you heard of Maschine Studio from Native Instruments?

 As I researched the sampling techniques I got to learn of some new toys that can help the sampling process and a couple rumors that can hurt the career of any music producer. According to Limelight, rules such as, use up to only 8 measures or slow it down or chop until barely identifiable and I’m not hot just yet so its ok are all rumors sure to get you in trouble. Best practice when not searching the public domain is to obtain permission for the sample. In this article by Ed Christman, “Tunes You Can Use”, Primary Wave Music Publishing and Production House Pulse Music facilitates music producers with a music-sampling website where you can find music and avoid the strenuous search for publishers.